Merced, Pentium patents threatened in $8 billion suit

Intel beleaguered on all fronts (Part 2)

Techsearch LLC, which earlier this year threatened Intel with all sorts of dire consequences, seems to have won the first round in its legal fight against the chip giant. The patent in question relates to technology first designed by a firm called International Meta, which was originally under the wing of Apple. International Meta went belly up and Techsearch LLC took over the patent, despite heated opposition from its shareholders, who lost cases against the lawyers earlier this year. Intel had attempted to buy the patent using a shell firm based in the Cayman Islands, with those attempts exposed first in the Wall Street Journal. Although the law suit filed by the law suits against Intel was originally for $2 billion damages, that amount has now been upped to $8 billion damages. The Techsearch LLC case will now go to a further hearing. Intel maintains that the law suits are without merit. A representative from the firm attempted to play down the case. He said: "The judge issued a Markman ruling to determine the proper definition of various elements of the patent claims. These hearings are common in patent infringement cases. A Markman hearing is routine in patent cases such as this one and is a necessary procedural step before the judge or jury considers validity or infringement issues." ® See alsoIntel's IA 64 programme threatened by IMS patentMeta Smalltalk Patent Suit assumes Merced meaningIntel, Teachsearch, IMS case takes further twist